Microsoft Rereleases Windows RT 8.1 Update #2

The other day I mentioned that Microsoft’s Windows RT 8.1 Update was discovered to brick some devices. Additional information, as well as a release of an updated install file, has been made available, and I wanted to update everyone on the situation.

First of all, I reported that the cause of the update was a corrupted recovery image. That was inaccurate. The issue only effected Surface RT tablets. It did not affect other OEM’ed devices. The cause of the issue has been identified and traced back to firmware updates that did NOT get applied to certain Surface RT devices.

While Microsoft indicates that it only really effected 1 out of every 1000 Surface RT tablets – MAYBE – the update did cause a noted number of units to become non-functional.

That issue has now been resolved. You can find additional information on how to unbrick your Surface RT tablet here. However, you’ll need to be careful.

The recovery process requires that you be comfortable working with the Command Prompt and are able to insure you have Administrator rights to the device. It’s a bit involved, so if you have problems, AND you have a Microsoft Store within driving distance, you might want to take a trip there and have them help you.

Unfortunately, this comes at a time when Microsoft can least afford issues like this, especially with their mobile devices. After Apple made Mavericks, iWork and iLife free and gave everyone an even more compelling reason to stay, switch to, or upgrade their mobile products to something they made, its blunders like this that make you wonder if Microsoft knows what it’s doing.